1. Field
One or more embodiments of the present invention relate to a unit thermionic electric converter and a thermoelectric converter system, and more particularly, to structures of a unit thermionic electric converter and a thermoelectric converter system.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the importance of energy increases, the importance of a technology capable of recovering waste heat to save on energy is increasing. A waste heat recovery technology is generally used to recover waste heat in the form of hot water, combustion air, and/or steam by using a heat exchanger and/or a waste heat boiler. Thus, the waste heat technology is used to increase or maximize efficiency of a system's technical and/or economical operations.
In general, waste heat recovery apparatuses are large, and thus there are many restrictive factors for its installation environment. When a large-capacity heat exchanger for industrial use and/or power generation is brought in, a high facility cost is required. Accordingly, an advanced use plan and countermeasure for installation investment are required, and thorough operation management after the installation is also required. Also, when power is generated by recovering waste heat, peripheral supply facilities including a steam generating equipment, a turbine, and a compressor are generally required. Thus, a method of recovering waste heat to generate power needs to be sufficiently technological and economical considered, and in particular, economic feasibility should be checked. Unlike a conventional power generation method, an alkali metal thermal to electric converter (AMTEC) is comprised of power generation cells in which a heat exchanging surface thereof itself may generate power without the need to use facilities such as a turbine or a boiler. Accordingly, an AMTEC may directly generate power at a portion that contacts a heat source and may modularize the power generation cells by connecting the power generation cells in parallel or series, thereby enabling large-capacity power of several kW to several hundreds of MW to be generated.
Besides various industrial waste heats, various heat sources, such as reactive heat of a nuclear reactor, solar heat, geothermal heat, and fossil energy, may be used. An AMTEC may be easily used to generate power by being combined with a conventional system.